Remember the 10 Provisional Goals of the Vancouver Plan? (Don’t worry - you can always look back on that content if you don’t!) We like to think about the Vancouver Plan goals as helping to make the city more just, more fun, and more green. We’ll explore each of those themes a bit below and give you a chance to share your ideas for a Just, Fun, and Green future!
You can complete all 3 sections of this survey at once, in 3 parts, or just look through and answer any questions you want to. All questions are optional.
As a reminder, the 10 Provisional Goals of the Vancouver Plan are:
- Advance a City of Reconciliation through Decolonization
- Create an Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive City
- Become a Sustainable and Carbon-Neutral City
- Ensure we are a Prepared, Safe and Resilient City
- Develop an Affordable City with Diverse and Secure Housing for every resident that they can afford with 30% or less of their household income.
- Support a Diverse and Healthy Economy
- Create Complete, Connected and Culturally Vibrant Neighbourhoods
- Re-Establish Thriving Urban Natural Systems.
- Intentionally Manage our Growth and Align our Efforts Regionally
- Demonstrate Transparency in Decision-Making and Collaborate with Partners
DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS
Before we get into city-specific questions we would like to know a few things about you so we can better understand how kids and teenagers think about Vancouver.
We also want to assure you that this survey is not a school test – every answer is ‘correct’. The survey will also be fully anonymous – that is when you submit it, nobody will know that you are the one who filled it out. The survey will never ask for your name or address, or any other identifying information. You also can skip any questions and either return to them later or leave them blank.
The following questions will help us know if we received ideas from many different kids – that is, did we hear from many age-groups (not just say 16-19 year-olds) and did we hear from boys, girls and gender diverse groups as well.
Part 1: A Just City for Everyone
What does it mean to be a Just city? There’s no one right answer, but we know that Vancouver should be a city where everybody can live, grow, and thrive! We are a city built on Indigenous land. We are also a diverse city with people of many different backgrounds and identities, so there are lots of different people and needs to think about - we want a city that is good for people of all races and ethnicities, gender identities, ages, abilities, and more!
These aren’t brand new goals for the city, and a lot of work has already been done on them, even though there is lots more to do! We can start with a quick review of some of the things that have already happened
| FAST FACT! In 2014 Vancouver adopted a Reconciliation Framework, which has 3 long-term goals: Strengthening local First Nations and Urban Indigenous relations, promoting Indigenous peoples arts, culture, awareness, and understanding, and incorporating First Nations and Urban Indigenous perspectives for effective City services. You can learn more about the Framework here. |
Now that we’ve seen a little bit about what the city has done, let’s think about what else we might like for the future. You can answer any of these questions that you want to - if you don’t want to answer a question, it’s ok to skip it.
12. How child or youth friendly do you think Vancouver is now? (Child or youth friendly can be whatever it means to you - overall, it means a place where it's good to grow up and be a kid!)
The best place to be a kid!
18. Rank in order which type of housing you think is best for children, teens and their families? Order the items from the following list. First select an item with the spacebar to show a menu of possible ranking positions. Next, click a ranking position to order it in the ranked list. Note the menu will display more ordering options as you add items to the ranked list.
Drag items from the left-hand list into the right-hand list to order them.
Part 2: A Green City for Everyone
We want Vancouver to be a sustainable city. Have you ever heard that idea before? In short, it means a city where the environment and humans are healthy. In other words: where all creatures and ecosystems (like people, plants and animals) live well today and can continue to live well in the future. In a sustainable city humans take care of the natural world and the natural world takes care of us.
The City has been thinking about sustainability for a while - you might have heard about Vancouver's "Greenest City Action Plan" or other things like this. We'll start with a quick review to see what you might have already noticed Vancouver doing to achieve these goals!
| FAST FACT! One major goal of the City’s is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change. One thing the City is doing to work on this is improving our active transportation network - this means making walking, biking, rolling, and taking transit easier and better for everyone! You might have noticed changes like separated bike lanes, or new Rapid Buses. In recent years, private-car use has been going down in Vancouver, and sustainable transportation has been increasing. |
Moving forward, let’s imagine what we want for Vancouver in the future! You can answer any of these questions that you want to - if you don’t want to answer a question, it’s ok to skip it.
Part 3: A Fun City for Everyone
Did you know that Vancouver has had a reputation as a being a no fun city? We want to use the Vancouver Plan to help make sure that in the future, our city is a fun place for everyone to live, grow, and thrive! The Vancouver Plan goal about “complete neighbourhoods” is all about making sure that every neighbourhood in the city is awesome and has everything the people in it need. And this includes PLAY!
The city has been working on making every neighbourhood awesome, and adding more opportunities for fun, for quite a while. You might have noticed some things like…
| FAST FACT! Vancouver’s very first official playground was donated to the city by Grace Ceperley in the 1920s. There’s still a playground in the same place you can visit today (although it’s not the same exact one!) Next time you visit Second Beach in Stanley Park, check out the playground and see if you can find the plaque about Grace Ceperley! |
Now let’s imagine the City’s fun future! You can answer any of these questions that you want to - if you don’t want to answer a question, it’s ok to skip it.
50. On average how much time do you spend outdoors versus indoors afterschool?
51. How much time do you wish you could spend outdoors versus indoors after school?
54. Are there fun things to do in your neighbourhood or do you usually go somewhere else to have fun?